The impact of the struggle for racial equality in the United States on British racialised relations from 1958 to 1968

Sanderson, N. (1999) The impact of the struggle for racial equality in the United States on British racialised relations from 1958 to 1968.University of Southampton, School of Humanities, Department of History,
Doctoral Thesis, 211pp.

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Description/Abstract

During the late 1950s and the 1960s America faced a high level of racial tension. At the sametime Britain imposed racially discriminatory immigration controls and passed legislation tooutlaw racial discrimination. This thesis asks to what extent the events in the United States hadan impact on the response of British institutions to the development of a multi-racial societyand increased rate of non-white immigration during these crucial years between the 1958 raceriots to the Kenyan Asian crisis.The first part of the thesis examines the background to British perceptions about both the'special relationship1 with the United States and images of African Americans in the periodprior to the years under review. It explores the ways in which the white British population wasmore informed about African Americans than the inhabitants of the colonies, and subsequentlythe Commonwealth.The following section examines ways in which the press and government drew on theactivities of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of Black Power in the United States duringthe 1960s to illustrate arid support their arguments. It notes the high level of interest in Britainin American news and the increasing sense of concern within press reports and debates in theHouse that Britain was heading for an American style racial conflict.The third part ofthe thesis examines four sections of the British population which could besaid to have a special interest in this issue: the non-white immigrants themselves; antiimmigrantsgroups; the religious denominations and British Jews: and organisations whichsought to promote racial harmony. The study examines not only the response ofthese sectionsofthe population to American racial trouble but the ways in which their activities had animpact on British perceptions. As the most concerned sections ofthe population, theiractivities were those most frequently reported by the press.In varying degrees, the responses ofthese sections of the population to the issues ofimmigration and racial discrimination reflected a growing concern that Britain was followingthe United States towards racial conflict. This perception was fed by both the press andgovernment action and in turn had an impact on both public opinion and politicians and createda national mood in which debate over these related issues was coloured by the increasinglytense racial situation in the United States. 1967 and 1968 were the years in which this nationalperception was at its height and witnessed the passage ofthe Immigration Bill which excludedthe entry of Kenyan Asians and the extension of Race Relations legislation. This thesis tracesthe development ofthis national mood, the significance of which has previously beenunderestimated.